My EDC (Everyday Carry)

About a month ago my new phone arrived, a sharp aquos sh-01j. I've been wanting to reduce my screentime for ages (I had a serious problem, like 12 hours a day on my phone problem) and I decided that decentralising my smartphone in my life would be a good way to do that. Unfortunately, smartphones are still a necessity in our society. There are work apps, university apps and banking apps, among others, that I still need almost daily. So, no getting rid of my smartphone, but I'd definitely say I've replaced it as my everyday phone.

The image above shows what I now carry with me daily as a fulltime university student. I have my 3ds XL (modded it recently and have absolutely no regrets, nintendogs for life) and cross stitching to keep me entertained in between class, my smart watch (with all notifications turned off) to keep track of my steps/other health info, my diary and pens to keep track of my schedule, my phone to keep in contact with people who need to contact me (basically just my boyfriend), my earbuds to listen to music/podcasts/audiobooks, and my tablet for all my university related work and emails. I use a tablet rather than a physical notebook or a laptop because I hate typed notes, but I like being able to edit my notes, move them around, and write over lecture slides. Not pictured here is the spare notebook I carry for my to-do lists and random thoughts I want to jot down.

My dumphone experience

Let me tell you a little more about my phone. It's what's called a keitai, a Japanese flip phone. It has a numpad and a non-touch screen, but runs off of Android 5.1, so is capable of running some lightweight apps. I use it for very few but very essential things. I make calls and text people, I have all my music downloaded there, I download YouTube videos to watch, and I can listen to my podcasts. I download my music and YouTube videos using my laptop, but my podcasts with Podcast Addict, which I have as an app. I do have the SpaceHey app as well, but I really only use SpaceHey on my laptop. I have no other social media on this phone

What have I learned from using my dumphone for a month?

1. I don't need Spotify. I bought a keitai specifically so I could use Spotify, but I couldn't get the app working. I ended up having a great time downloading all my music as mp3s and making new playlists. I'm really not missing it at all, and I'd encourage anyone thinking about switching to a dumbphone but holding off because of Spotify to just give it a go. 

2. Being off of social media is both more isolating and more freeing than I thought it would be. More isolating because no one I know is making the same lifestyle change that I am, so I miss out on communicating with my friends in our groupchats for most of the day. More freeing because I feel so much less pressure to be present online at all times. Besides having a whole separate phone that I use for everyday purposes, I've also deactivated my Facebook account (I'd delete it if my family didn't use Facebook Messenger), replaced Instagram with Distraction Free Instagram, with only messages and stories turned on and I have a 30 minute time limit on TikTok which I'm slowly decreasing to 0. I like not feeling like I need to reply to every message immediately, and I enjoy going for walks without my smartphone at all.

3. I still have a lot of work to do before I'm where I want to be with my screentime. I'm finding myself scrolling Reddit a lot, and still reaching for my smartphone at home when I'm not actively doing something. I don't have the willpower to quit cold turkey, but I'm slowly deleting apps and setting time restrictions.

Overall, I love my silly little phone and will continue to keep using it as my everyday phone. 100% would recommend getting one.